Method for controlling content and digital device using the same

ABSTRACT

A method and device for controlling content that includes plural display pages in a sequence, the method including: displaying a current page included in the content; receiving a user input to or above a display screen of the display unit for changing from the current page to another page of the content; extracting fingerprint information from the user input; determining whether the content of the another page is or is not accessible based on the extracted fingerprint information; if all of the content of the another page is determined to be accessible based on the extracted fingerprint information, displaying the another page; and if any of the content of the another page is determined not to be accessible based on the extracted fingerprint information, displaying a page following the current page without displaying content of the another page that was determined not to be accessible.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of priority to U.S. ProvisionalApplication 61/697,814, filed on Sep. 7, 2012, and Korean PatentApplication No. 10-2012-0108667, filed on Sep. 28, 2012, both of whichare hereby incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a method for controlling content and adigital device using the same. More specifically, the invention relatesto a method for changing a display page provided to a display unit fromamong content including a plurality of display pages and a digitaldevice using the same.

2. Discussion of the Related Art

Digital devices process digital data and perform operationscorresponding to the digital data. As the performance of these digitaldevices improves, various types of multimedia content can be executedthrough the digital devices. Particularly, a widely used recent portabledevice is used as a multipurpose multimedia playback device.

A user can set a digital device such that only the user can accessspecific content when multimedia content is executed through the digitaldevice. For example, the user can restrict access to specific pictures,texts, applications, etc., stored in the digital device, by other peoplesuch that they can be used only by the user. In this case, the user canrestrict access to the specific content by others by locking the contentthrough the digital device. The user needs to unlock the lock state inorder to access the content.

However, a user interface for unlocking the lock state of the contentcauses user inconvenience when the user uses content. That is, the usershould input an additional password or pass through an authenticationprocedure in order to unlock the lock state of the content. Accordingly,there is a need for a method by which the user can access locked contentwithout an additional authentication procedure when using the digitaldevice.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a method for easilychanging a page of content that includes a plurality of display pages.Especially, the present invention is directed to a method by which auser can access a display page in a locked state when the contentincludes the display page in a locked state.

Furthermore, an object of the present invention is to collectauthentication information of a user through user input to a digitaldevice and to determine whether to provide a display page in a lockedstate to the user on the basis of the collected authenticationinformation.

In addition, an object of the present invention is to provide a displaypage on the basis of authentication information of a user that isincluded in user input, according to whether the user is allowed toaccess a display page in a locked state.

Moreover, an object of the present invention is to provide a displaypage different from a display page in a locked state to a user who isnot allowed to access the display page in a locked state, to maintaincontinuity of providing content corresponding to user input.

To achieve these objects and other advantages and in accordance with thepurpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, amethod for controlling content including a plurality of display pages ina sequence includes: providing a first display page included in thecontent to a display unit; receiving a user input for changing pages ofthe content; extracting fingerprint information of a user correspondingto the user input from the user input when a second display page thatwill be changed with the first display page in response to the userinput, and determining whether the user is allowed to access to thesecond display page on the basis of the extracted fingerprintinformation; and changing the first display page of the content providedto the display unit in response to the user input, wherein the changingof the first display page comprises changing the first display page tothe second display page when the user is allowed to access the seconddisplay page, wherein the changing of the first display page comprisesskipping change to the second display page and changing the firstdisplay page to a third display page of the sequence when the user isnot allowed to access the second display page.

In another aspect of the present invention, a digital device includes: aprocessor configured to control operations of the digital device; adisplay unit configured to display an image on the basis of a command ofthe processor; and a sensor unit configured to sense a user inputapplied to the digital device and transmit the sensed result to theprocessor, wherein the processor provides a first display page includedin content including a plurality of display pages in a sequence to thedisplay unit, receives a user input for an operation of changing pagesof the content, extracts fingerprint information of a user correspondingto the user input from the user input when a second display page thatwill be changed with the first display page in response to the userinput is a locked display page, determines whether the user is allowedto access the second display page on the basis of the extractedfingerprint information, and changes the first display page of thecontent, provided to the display unit, in response to the user input,wherein the processor changes the first display page to the seconddisplay page when the user is allowed to access the second display page,skips change to the second display page and changes the first displaypage to a third display page of the sequence when the user is notpermitted to access the second display page.

According to the method for controlling content according to anembodiment of the present invention, a permitted user can access adisplay page in a locked state without an additional authenticationprocedure, and thus the user can use content conveniently.

Furthermore, when a user who is not permitted to access a display pagein a locked state performs user input to change a display page, displaypages allowed to be accessed by the user are sequentially provided tothe unpermitted user to maintain continuity of providing content.

According to embodiments of the present invention, user privacy can besecured by providing content in a locked state only to a permitted user.

According to the embodiments of the present invention, it is possible toprovide only display pages allowed to be accessed by each of a pluralityof users to each user using user input information of each user, andthus content only for each user can be categorized and convenientlyprovided.

In another aspect of the invention, there is a method and device forcontrolling content, the content including a plurality of display pagesin a sequence, the method including: displaying a current display pageincluded in the content on a display unit of the device; receiving auser input to or above a display screen of the display unit for changingfrom the current display page to another page of the content;extracting, by the device, fingerprint information from the user input;determining, by the device, whether the content of the another page isor is not accessible based on the extracted fingerprint information; ifall of the content of the another page is determined to be accessiblebased on the extracted fingerprint information, displaying the anotherpage on the display unit; and if any of the content of the another pageis determined not to be accessible based on the extracted fingerprintinformation, displaying on the display unit a page following the currentpage without displaying content of the another page that was determinednot to be accessible.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute apart of this application, illustrate embodiment(s) of the invention andtogether with the description serve to explain the principle of theinvention. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a digital device according to an embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a method for controlling contentaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a digital device, contentprovided through the digital device and user input for controlling thecontent according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 4 to 8 illustrate an embodiment in which the digital deviceaccording to the present invention receives a user input and changes adisplay page;

FIG. 9 illustrates a method of providing a fingerprint authenticationuser interface according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 illustrates a method of providing a lock page indicatoraccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 shows arrangements of a content sequence according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 12 illustrates user input according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a method for controlling contentaccording to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 14 illustrates a method by which the digital device changes displaypages according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 13; and

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating a method for controlling contentaccording to another embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Although the terms used in the present invention are selected fromgenerally known and used terms, the terms may be changed according tothe intention of an operator, customs, or the advent of new technology.Some of the terms mentioned in the description of the present inventionhave been selected by the applicant at his or her discretion, thedetailed meanings of which are described in relevant parts of thedescription herein. Therefore, the present invention must be understood,not simply by the actual terms used but by the meanings of each term.

The present invention relates to a method for controlling contentincluding a plurality of display pages and a digital device using thesame. In the present invention, digital pages include various types ofmultimedia content that can be provided to a display unit of a digitaldevice. For example, the display pages can be various types ofdisplayable data including an image, a document, a picture, a homescreen and combinations thereof. The plurality of display pages includedin the content may belong to the same or equivalent layer and form asequence.

The plurality of display pages included in the content may besequentially provided to a user according to the sequence. For example,if the content is a gallery application including a plurality ofpictures, the user can view the plurality of pictures according to thesequence through the display unit of the digital device. If the contentis a home screen sequence including a plurality of home screens, theuser can sequentially change home screens displayed on the display unitof the digital device.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the contentincludes at least one locked display page. The locked display page is adisplay page permitted to be accessed only by a specific user and can beprovided to the specific user through the display unit only when theuser is authenticated. According to an embodiment of the presentinvention, the digital device can extract fingerprint information of thecorresponding user from user input for changing pages of the content andperform user authentication on the basis of the extracted fingerprintinformation. The digital device determines whether or not to provide thelocked display page to the user on the basis of the extractedfingerprint information. That is, when the digital device determinesthat the user is allowed to access the locked display page on the basisof the extracted fingerprint information, the digital device can providethe locked display page to the user in response to the user input. Ifthe digital device determines that the user is not allowed to access thelocked display page, the digital device can provide a display page otherthan the locked display page to the user in response to the user input.This will be described in detail later.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a digital device 100 according to anembodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the digital device 100 may include a hardwarelayer, an operating system (OS) layer, and an application layer.

The hardware layer of the digital device 100 may include a processor110, a display unit 120, a sensor unit 130, a communication unit 140,and a storage unit 150.

The display unit 120 outputs an image on a display screen. The displayunit 120 can output an image on the basis of content executed by theprocessor 110 or a control command of the processor 110. In anembodiment of the present invention, the display unit 120 can output adisplay page of content executed by the digital device 100.

The sensor unit 130 may detect the surrounding environment of thedigital device 100 using at least one sensor provided to the digitaldevice 100 and signal the detected surrounding environment to theprocessor 110. In addition, the sensor unit 130 may detect user inputaccording to the present invention and signal the user input to theprocessor 110. The sensor unit 130 may include at least one sensingmeans. The at least one sensing means may include a gravity sensor, ageomagnetic sensor, a motion sensor, a gyro sensor, an accelerationsensor, an infrared sensor, an inclination sensor, an illuminationsensor, an altitude sensor, an odor sensor, a temperature sensor, adepth sensor, a pressure sensor, a bending sensor, an audio sensor, avideo sensor, a global positioning system (GPS) sensor, a touch sensor,a fingerprint sensor, etc. The sensor unit 130 can sense various userinputs and user environments and transmit sensing results to theprocessor 110 such that the processor 110 can perform operationscorresponding to the sensing results. The aforementioned sensors may beincluded in the digital device 100 as separate elements or may beintegrated into one or more elements and included in the digital device100.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the digital device100 may include the sensor unit 130 provided on the display unit 120.Accordingly, the digital device 100 can detect various user inputs to orabove the display unit 120 through the sensor unit 130. For example, ifthe sensor unit 130 includes a touch sensor, the digital device 100 canreceive various user touch inputs to the display unit 120. Also, forexample, the sensor unit 130 can receive gesture input to the displayunit 120. Herein, the gesture input may include hovering input. Hoveringmeans that the hand of the user or the object does not touches thedisplay unit 120, but stays at a certain distance from the point to betouched. Also, for example, the sensor unit 130 can receive complextouch gesture input to the display unit 120. The complex touch gestureinput can represent complex input of touch input and gesture input. Forexample, the complex touch gesture input can be performed by SweptFrequency Capacitive Sensing (SFCS). Herein, SFCS can represent not onlydetect a touch event, but also recognize complex configurations of theuser hands and body. If the sensor unit 130 includes a fingerprintsensor, the digital device 100 can acquire fingerprint information of acorresponding user from a user input applied to the display unit 120.The digital device 100 according to the present invention may include ascreen sensor in a layered structure formed by the display unit 120 andthe sensor unit 130.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the digitaldevice 100 may include both the touch sensor and the fingerprint sensor.The touch sensor and the fingerprint sensor may form a layered structureand the digital device can acquire fingerprint information of thecorresponding user from user input applied to the touch sensor. Thetouch sensor and the fingerprint sensor can form a layer with thedisplay unit 120 or form a layer separately from the display unit 120.Also, the digital device 100 can acquire fingerprint information of thecorresponding user from the gesture input.

The communication unit 140 may transmit/receive data by communicatingwith an external device or server using various protocols. Thecommunication unit 140 can be connected to a server or a cloud computingfarm through a network to transmit/receive digital data, for example,content. The communication unit 140 may be selectively included in thedigital device 100.

The storage unit 150 may store various types of digital data such asvideo, audio, pictures, texts, applications, etc. The storage unit 150may correspond to a digital data storage space such as a flash memory, arandom access memory (RAM), a solid state drive (SSD), etc. In anembodiment of the present invention, the storage unit 150 can storevarious types of content. In addition, the storage unit 150 can storecontent received by the communication unit 140 from an external deviceor server.

The processor 110 may execute content stored in the storage unit 150 orcontent received through data communication. The processor 110 canexecute various applications and process internal data of the digitaldevice 100. In an embodiment of the present invention, the processor 110may drive a content control module 200 and control content of thedigital device 100 on the basis of a control command of the contentcontrol module 200. In addition, the processor 110 may control therespective units of the digital device 100 and control datatransmission/reception between units.

The OS layer of the digital device 100 may include an OS for controllingthe units of the digital device 100. The OS allows an application of thedigital device 100 to control and use the units of the hardware layer.The OS efficiently distributes resources of the digital device 100 toprepare an environment in which each application can be executed. Theapplication layer of the digital device 100 may include at least oneapplication. The application includes various types of programs forperforming a specific operation. The application can use the resourcesof the hardware layer with the help of the OS.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the digital device100 includes the content control module 200 for controlling content. Thecontent control module 200 controls change of a plurality of displaypages included in content of the digital device 100. The content controlmodule 200 may be included in the OS layer or the application layer ofthe digital device 100. That is, the content control module 200 may beembedded software included in the OS layer of the digital device 100 orsoftware included in the application layer.

FIG. 1 shows elements of the digital device 100 according to anembodiment of the present invention as logical elements. The elements ofthe digital device 100 can be integrated as one chip or a plurality ofchips in the digital device according to device design.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a method for controlling contentaccording to an embodiment of the present invention. Each step of themethod shown in FIG. 2 may be performed by the digital device accordingto the present invention. That is, the processor 110 of the digitaldevice 100 can control each step of FIG. 2 on the basis of controlcommands of the content control module 200 of the digital device 100shown in FIG. 1.

The digital device according to the present invention may provide afirst display page included in content to the display unit (S210). Thecontent includes a plurality of display pages in sequence. For example,the content can be a gallery application including a plurality ofpictures, a digital document including a plurality of pages, or a homescreen sequence including a plurality of home screens. However, thepresent invention is not limited thereto. The content includes aplurality of display pages arranged in a sequence. This sequencearrangement includes one-dimensional arrangement, two-dimensionalarrangement and three-dimensional arrangement. If the content is asequence in one-dimensional arrangement, display pages other than thefirst display page included in the content may be located before and/orafter (or located at left and/or right of) the first display page. Ifthe content is a sequence in two-dimensional arrangement, display pagesother than the first display page included in the content may be locatedin at least one of directions corresponding to the top, bottom, left,right and combinations thereof of the first display page. If the contentis a sequence in three-dimensional arrangement, display pages other thanthe first display page included in the content may be located in atleast one of directions corresponding to the front, back, top, bottom,left, right and combinations thereof of the first display page. Thearrangement directions are arbitrary arrangement directions forexplaining the sequence arrangement of the present invention and can bemodified to various embodiments.

The display pages included in the content may be provided to the displayunit of the digital display. The first display page of the contentprovided to the display unit may be changed to other display pagesaccording to user input. In this case, display page change may besequentially performed on the basis of the sequence arrangement of thecontent. For example, the first display page of the content provided tothe display unit can be changed to a second display page in the vicinityof the first display page according to user input. The second displaypage is located in the content sequence in a direction in which adisplay page change is performed according to the user input. If thesecond display page is a display page in a locked state, which ispermitted to be accessed only by a specific user, the digital device canperform display page change according to whether the corresponding useris permitted to access the second display page.

The digital device receives user input for changing content pages(S220). This user input determines a change direction in which a pagechange is performed. For example, the user input can include varioususer inputs having direction information, such as sliding input, touchinput of a page change interface, gesture input, complex touch gestureinput, etc. The digital device can perform content page change on thebasis of the direction information included in the user input. That is,the digital device can set a content page change direction on the basisof the direction information and change the current content page to adisplay page located in the content page change direction in thesequence.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the user input mayinclude fingerprint information of the corresponding user. The touchsensor and the fingerprint sensor included in the digital device may beconfigured in a layered structure, and the fingerprint information ofthe corresponding user can be detected from a user input applied to thetouch sensor. For example, when the user input corresponds to slidinginput applied to the touch sensor, the digital device can detect thefingerprint information of the corresponding user from at least one ofthe start point, the end point and the middle point of the slidinginput. If the user input corresponds to touch input of the page changeinterface, the digital device can detect the fingerprint information ofthe user from the touch input. According to another embodiment of thepresent invention, the digital device may detect the fingerprintinformation of the corresponding user from a user's finger performinggesture input. In this manner, the digital device of the presentinvention can acquire the fingerprint information of the correspondinguser while receiving user input. However, the present invention is notlimited thereto and the digital device can collect the fingerprintinformation of the user through an additional process performed beforeor after reception of the user input.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the user inputmay be received through an external sensor unit connected to the digitaldevice. The external sensor unit can detect the user input including thefingerprint information of the user and transmit a detection result tothe digital device. That is, the user input can be detected by theinternal sensor unit or external sensor unit of the digital device andtransmitted to the digital device.

The digital device determines whether the second display page that willbe exchanged with the first display page is in a locked state inresponse to the user input (S230). The second display page is a targetdisplay page that will be changed with the first display page accordingto the user input. For example, the second display page can be in thevicinity of the first display page in the content sequence and belocated in the content page change direction according to the userinput. In the embodiments of the present invention, a locked displaypage may be a display page permitted to be accessed only by a specificuser and provided to the user through the display unit only when theuser is authenticated. A display page lock state may be set by the user,system setup of the digital device, or security of the content.

When the digital device determines that the second display page is alocked display page in step S230, the digital device extracts thefingerprint information of the corresponding user from the received userinput (S240). According to an embodiment of the present invention, thefingerprint information of the user can be acquired with the user input,and the digital device can extract the fingerprint information of theuser from the user input and perform user authentication. According toan embodiment of the present invention, acquisition and extraction ofthe fingerprint information of the user can be selectively performedwhen the second display page is a locked display page.

Subsequently, the digital device determines whether the user ispermitted to access the second display page on the basis of theextracted fingerprint information of the user (S250). For thisoperation, the digital device compares the extracted fingerprintinformation with fingerprint information of an authenticated user tocheck if the extracted fingerprint information corresponds to thefingerprint information of the authenticated user. The authenticateduser is a user allowed to access the second display page, and thefingerprint information of the authenticated user can be stored in thedigital device or in a server connected to the digital device through anetwork. According to an embodiment of the present invention, thedigital device may change the first display page provided to the displayunit to another display page in response to the user input received instep S220. In this case, the first display page may be changed todifferent display pages depending on the determination result of stepS250. That is, the digital device determines whether or not to providethe second display page in a locked state to the user on the basis ofthe extracted fingerprint information.

If the digital device determines that the user is allowed to access thesecond display page in step S250, the digital device changes the firstdisplay page provided to the display unit to the second display page(S260). The digital device can unlock the lock state of the seconddisplay page temporarily or permanently and provide the unlocked seconddisplay page to the display unit. Accordingly, the user permitted toaccess the second display page can directly access the second displaypage in a locked state through a single user input for page change.

However, if the digital device determines that the user is not permittedto access the second display page, the digital device changes the firstdisplay page provided to the display unit to a third display page(S262). In this case, the digital device can skip change to the seconddisplay page and change the first display page to the third display pagelocated in the content page change direction in the content sequence.The third display page may be located after the second display page inthe content page change direction in the content sequence and may be aninitial display page permitted to be accessed. According to anembodiment of the present invention, the third display page may be aninitial display page that is not in a locked state and is located afterthe second display page in the content page change direction in thecontent sequence. According to another embodiment of the presentinvention, the third display page may be an initial display page that islocated after the second display page in the content page changedirection in the content sequence and allowed to be accessed on thebasis of the fingerprint information extracted in step S240. Accordingto another embodiment of the present invention, the digital device canprovide a fingerprint authentication user interface for receiving afingerprint input for unlocking the second display page. The fingerprintauthentication user interface may be provided through the first displaypage or provided through an additional display page.

As described above, the digital device can change content pages providedto the display unit according to user input and determine whether toprovide a locked display page on the basis of fingerprint informationextracted from the user input. According to the embodiments of thepresent invention, when a locked display page is not permitted to beaccessed, the digital device can sequentially provide other displaypages in the content sequence to maintain continuity of providingdisplay pages. In the embodiments of the present invention, the pagechange operation includes various operations such as an operation ofturning over pages, a content scrolling operation, etc.

FIG. 3 shows the digital device 100, content 50 provided to the digitaldevice 100, and user input 10 for controlling the content 50. Thedigital device 100 may include the display unit 120 and provide thecontent 50 through the display unit 120. The content 50 may include aplurality of display pages 50 a, 50 b, 50 c, 50 d and 50 e in asequence. For example, the content 50 can be a gallery applicationincluding a plurality of pictures, a digital document including aplurality of pages, a home screen sequence including a plurality of homescreens or the like. However, the present invention is not limitedthereto. The digital device 100 can sequentially change the displaypages 50 a, 50 b, 50 c, 50 d and 50 e provided to the display unit 120in response to the user input 10. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram ofsequential arrangement of the display pages 50 a, 50 b, 50 c, 50 d and50 e included in the content 50. The display pages 50 a, 50 b, 50 c, 50d and 50 e can be displayed as one screen on the display unit 120. Thedisplay pages 50 a, 50 b, 50 c, 50 d and 50 e can be sub-content of thecontent 50 of the digital device 100.

The user can control the content 50 using the user input 10 applied tothe digital device 100, for example, sliding input. For example, theuser can apply the user input 10 of sliding to the left while thedisplay page 50 c is displayed on the display unit 120. Then, thedigital device 100 receives the user input 10 of sliding to the left anddetermines a page change direction of the content 50 to the right.Accordingly, the digital device 100 can display the display page 50 d,which is located on the right of the display page 50 c in the sequenceof the content 50, on the display unit 120. The user input 20 may beimplemented in various manners in the embodiments of the presentinvention. In this manner, the digital device 100 can sequentiallychange and provide the display pages 50 a, 50 b, 50 c, 50 d and 50 e inresponse to a plurality of user inputs.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the digital device100 can acquire the fingerprint information of the corresponding userfrom the user input 10. The digital device 100 may include a fingerprintsensor or a fingerprint recognition module for detecting a userfingerprint. The fingerprint sensor may be provided to the display unit120 or the touch sensor of the digital device 100. The digital device100 can detect fingerprint information of a user finger performing theuser input 10 when the user input 10 is applied to the display unit 120.The digital device 100 compares the detected fingerprint informationwith previously stored user fingerprint information to determine whetherthe user is authenticated. According to an embodiment of the presentinvention, the digital device 100 can determine whether to provide alocked display page on the basis of whether the user is authenticatedaccording to fingerprint recognition.

FIGS. 4 to 10 illustrate a procedure in which the digital device 100receives user inputs 10 and 12 and changes display pages according toembodiments of the present invention. In FIGS. 4 to 10, the digitaldevice 100 receives user sliding inputs as the user inputs 10 and 12.However, the user inputs 10 and 12 are not limited to the sliding inputand can be modified in various ways.

Referring to FIG. 4, a plurality of display pages may include aplurality of pictures 52 a, 52 b and 52 c. The plurality of pictures 52a, 52 b and 52 c form content 52 in a sequence. In FIG. 4, the pictures52 a and 52 c are public content permitted to be accessed by all usersand the picture 52 b is private content permitted to be accessed only byuser A. The plurality of pictures 52 a, 52 b and 52 c form the sequence52 in the order of 52 a, 52 b and 52 c.

In FIG. 4, the digital device 100 can receive the user input 10 of userA or the user input 12 of user B, which corresponds to sliding to theleft, while the picture 52 a is displayed on the display unit 120. Thedigital device 100 changes the picture 52 a of the content 52, currentlydisplayed on the display unit 120, to the picture 52 b on the right ofthe picture 52 a in the content sequence according to the user input 10or 12. Here, the digital device 100 extracts fingerprint information ofthe corresponding user from the received user input 10 or 12.

The digital device 100 determines whether the corresponding user ispermitted to access the picture 52 b on the basis of the extractedfingerprint information. To perform this operation, the digital device100 may compare the fingerprint information extracted from the userinput 10 or 12 with previously stored user fingerprint information. Ifthe extracted fingerprint information is matched with the previouslystored fingerprint information of user A (or if a predetermined matchingrate is satisfied), the digital device 100 determines that thecorresponding user is permitted to access the picture 52 b in a lockedstate. Accordingly, the digital device 100 provides the picture 52 b onthe right of the picture 52 a to the display unit 120. However, if theextracted fingerprint information is not matched with the previouslystored fingerprint information of user A (or if the predeterminedmatching rate is not satisfied), the digital device 100 determines thatthe corresponding user is not allowed to access the picture 52 b in alocked state. Accordingly, the digital device 100 skips change to thepicture 52 b and provides the picture 52 c located on the right of thepicture 52 b to the display unit 120.

In this manner, the digital device 100 can provide the picture 52 b in alocked state to the display unit 120 when authenticated user A performsthe user input 10. However, when user B who is not authenticatedperforms the user input 12, the digital device 100 can skip the picture52 b in a locked state and provide the picture 52 c to the display unit120. In this case, the picture 52 c is located on the right of thepicture 52 b (that is, located in the page change direction) andcorresponds to an initial picture permitted to be accessed.

Referring to FIG. 5, a plurality of display pages may include aplurality of home screens 54 a, 54 b and 54 c. The plurality of homescreens Ma, 54 b and 54 c form content 54 in a sequence. Each of thehome screens 54 a, 54 b and 54 c includes at least one icon by which anapplication is executed. In FIG. 5, the home screens 54 a and 54 c arepublic content permitted to be accessed by all users and the home screen54 b is private content permitted to be accessed only by user A.Accordingly, user A can use at least one application icon included inthe home screen 54 b. The plurality of home screens 54 a, 54 b and 54 cform the content sequence in the order of 54 a, 54 b and 54 c. In theembodiment of FIG. 5, detailed description of part of the embodiment ofthe FIG. 5, which is identical to the corresponding part of theembodiment of FIG. 4, is omitted.

In FIG. 5, the digital device 100 can receive the user input 10 of userA or the user input 12 of user B, which corresponds to sliding to theright, while the home screen 54 c is displayed on the display unit 120.The digital device 100 changes the home screen 54 c of the content 54,currently displayed on the display unit 120, to the home screen 54 b onthe left of the home sequence 54 c in the content sequence according tothe user input 10 or 12. The digital device 100 extracts fingerprintinformation of the corresponding user from the received user input 10 or12 and determines whether the corresponding user is allowed to accessthe home screen 54 b on the basis of the extracted fingerprintinformation. If the corresponding user is a permitted user, the digitaldevice 100 provides the home screen 54 b located on the left of the homescreen 54 c to the display unit 120. If the corresponding user is not apermitted user, however, the digital device 100 skips change to the homescreen 54 b and provides the home screen 54 a located on the left of thehome screen 54 b to the display unit 120.

In this manner, the digital device 100 can provide the home screen 54 bin a locked state to the display unit 120 when authenticated user Aperforms the user input 10. Accordingly, user A can select an icondisplayed on the home screen 54 b to execute an applicationcorresponding to the icon. When user B who is not authenticated performsthe user input 12, however, the digital device 100 can skip the homescreen 54 b in a locked state and provide the home screen 54 a to thedisplay unit 120. Here, the home screen 54 a is located on the left ofthe home screen 54 b in the content sequence (that is, located in thepage change direction) and corresponds to an initial home screenpermitted to be accessed.

Referring to FIG. 6, a plurality of display pages may include aplurality of pages 56 a, 56 b and 56 c of a digital document. Theplurality of pages 56 a, 56 b and 56 c of the digital document formcontent 56 in a sequence. In FIG. 6, the pages 56 a and 56 c are publiccontent permitted to be accessed by all users and the page 56 b isprivate content permitted to be accessed only by user A. The pluralityof pages 56 a, 56 b and 56 c form the sequence in the order of 56 a, 56b and 56 c. In the embodiment of FIG. 6, detailed description of part ofthe embodiment of FIG. 6, which is identical to the corresponding partof the embodiment of FIG. 4, is omitted.

In FIG. 6, the digital device 100 can receive the user input 10 of userA or the user input 12 of user B, which corresponds to sliding upward,while the page 56 a is displayed on the display unit 120. The digitaldevice 100 changes the page 56 a of the content 56, currently displayedon the display unit 120, to the page 56 b following the page 56 a in thecontent sequence according to the user input 10 or 12. The digitaldevice 100 extracts fingerprint information of the corresponding userfrom the received user input 10 or 12 and determines whether thecorresponding user is permitted to access the page 56 b on the basis ofthe extracted fingerprint information. If the corresponding user is apermitted user, the digital device 100 provides the page 56 b followingthe page 56 a to the display unit 120. If the corresponding user is nota permitted user, however, the digital device 100 skips change to thepage 56 b and provides the page 56 c following the page 56 b to thedisplay unit 120. Here, the page 56 c follows the page 56 b in thesequence (that is, is located in the page change direction) andcorresponds to an initial page permitted to be accessed. In theembodiment of FIG. 6, page change can be performed according to anoperation of turning over pages, an operation of scrolling through thecontent 56, etc.

FIG. 7 illustrates another embodiment of the present invention. In FIG.7, content 50 includes a plurality of displays pages 50 a, 50 b, 50 c,50 d and 50 e in a sequence. The display pages 50 a and 50 e are publiccontent permitted to be accessed by all users, whereas the display pages50 b, 50 c and 50 d are private content permitted to be accessed only byuser A. That is, consecutive display pages 50 b, 50 c and 50 d areallowed to be accessed by the specific user.

In the embodiment of FIG. 7, the digital device 100 can receive the userinput 10 of user A or the user input 12 of user B, which corresponds tosliding to the left, while the display page 50 a is displayed on thedisplay unit 120. The digital device 100 changes the display page 50 aof the content 50, currently displayed on the display unit 120, to thedisplay page 50 b on the right of the display page 50 a in the contentsequence according to the user input 10 or 12. The digital device 100extracts fingerprint information of the corresponding user from thereceived user input 10 or 12 and determines whether the correspondinguser is allowed to access the display page 50 b on the basis of theextracted fingerprint information. If the corresponding user is apermitted user, the digital device 100 provides the display page 50 blocated on the right of the display page 50 a to the display unit 120.If the corresponding user is not a permitted user, however, the digitaldevice 100 skips change to the display pages 50 b, 50 c and 50 d andprovides the display page 50 e located on the right of the display page50 d to the display unit 120. The display pages 50 c and 50 d arepermitted to be accessed only by user A like the display page b, andthus the digital device 100 can skip the display pages 50 c and 50 dwith the display page 50 b.

In this manner, the digital device 100 can sequentially provide thedisplay pages 50 b, 50 c and 50 d in a locked state to the display unit120 when authenticated user A performs the user input 10. That is, whenuser A consecutively performs the user input 10 of sliding to the leftin the embodiment of FIG. 7, the digital device 100 can change thedisplay pages of the content 50 to the right in the sequence, such as 50a→50 b→50 c→50 d→50 e. If user B who is not authenticated performs theuser input 12, however, the digital device 100 can skip display pages 50b, 50 c and 50 d in a locked state and provide the display page 50 e tothe display unit 120 in response to the user input 12. The display page50 e is located on the right of the display page 50 b (that is, locatedin the page change direction) and corresponds to an initial display pagepermitted to be accessed.

FIG. 8 illustrates another embodiment of the present invention. In FIG.8, content 50 includes a plurality of displays pages 50 a, 50 b, 50 c,50 d and 50 e in a sequence. The display pages 50 a and 50 e are publiccontent permitted to be accessed by all users, the display pages 50 band 50 c are private content permitted to be accessed only by user A,and the display page 52 d is private content permitted to be accessedonly by user B. That is, the content 50 of the digital device 100 caninclude display pages permitted to be accessed by a plurality of users.The digital device 100 can store fingerprint information of theplurality of users and identify a user corresponding to a user inputthrough fingerprint information extracted from the user input. Detaileddescription of part of the embodiment of FIG. 8, which is identical tothe corresponding part of the embodiment of FIG. 7, is omitted.

In the embodiment of FIG. 8, the digital device 100 can receive the userinput 10 of user A or the user input 12 of user B, which corresponds tosliding to the left, while the display page 50 a is displayed on thedisplay unit 120. The digital device 100 extracts fingerprintinformation of the corresponding user from the received user input 10 or12 and determines whether the corresponding user is allowed to accessthe display page 50 b on the basis of the extracted fingerprintinformation. If the corresponding user is a permitted user, the digitaldevice 100 provides the display page 50 b located on the right of thedisplay page 50 a to the display unit 120. If the corresponding user isnot a permitted user, however, the digital device 100 skips change tothe display pages 50 b and 50 c and checks whether the correspondinguser is permitted to access the display page 50 d. Since the displaypage 50 c is permitted to be accessed only by user A like the displaypage 50 b, the digital device 100 can skip the display page 50 c withthe display page 50 b. If the corresponding user is a permitted user,the digital device 100 provides the display page 50 d to the displayunit 120. If the corresponding user is not a permitted user, the digitaldevice 100 skips change to the display page 50 d and provides thedisplay page 50 e to the display unit 120.

In this manner, the digital device 100 can provide different displaypages to a plurality of users when the content 50 includes display pageslocked for the plurality of users. That is, when user A consecutivelyperforms user input 10 of sliding to the left in the embodiment of FIG.8, the digital device 100 can change the display pages of the content 50to the right in a sequence such as 50 a→50 b→50 c→50 e. Here, thedigital device 100 can skip change to the display page 50 e permitted tobe accessed by user B. When user B consecutively performs user input 12of sliding to the left, the digital device 100 can change the displaypages of the content 50 to the right in a sequence such as 50 a→50 d→50e. Here, the digital device 100 can skip change to the display pages 50b and 50 c permitted to be accessed by user A. The display page 50 d islocated on the right of the display page 50 b (that is, is located inthe page change direction) in the sequence and corresponds to an initialdisplay page permitted to be accessed on the basis of fingerprintinformation of user B.

FIG. 9 illustrates another embodiment of the present invention. In FIG.9, display pages 50 a and 50 c are public content permitted to beaccessed by all users and the display page 50 b is private contentpermitted to be accessed only by user A. The display pages 50 a, 50 band 50 c form a sequence in the order of 50 a, 50 b and 50 c.

In the embodiment of FIG. 9, the digital device 100 can provide afingerprint authentication user interface 60 when the display page 50 b,which will be changed with the display page 50 a currently displayed onthe display unit 120, is locked and is not permitted to be accessed.Access to the display page 50 b may not be permitted when user B who isnot an allowed user performs the user input 12. In addition, access tothe display page 50 b may not be permitted when fingerprint informationof user A is not successfully acquired from the user input 10 althoughallowed user A performs the user input 10.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the digital device100 can provide the fingerprint authentication user interface 60 forreceiving a fingerprint input for unlocking the display page 50 b. Thedigital device 100 outputs the fingerprint authentication user interface60 to the display unit 120 to induce the user to input his/herfingerprint to the digital device 100. According to an embodiment of thepresent invention, the digital device 100 can display the fingerprintauthentication user interface 60 on the display page 50 a withoutperforming change to the display page 50 a. According to anotherembodiment of the present invention, the digital device 100 can changethe display page displayed on the display unit 120 to a new display pageand display the fingerprint authentication user interface 60 on the newdisplay page. The digital device 100 performs display page change on thebasis of newly input user fingerprint information. If access to thedisplay page 50 b is permitted on the basis of the newly inputfingerprint information, the digital device 100 displays the displaypage 50 b on the display unit 120.

FIG. 10 illustrates an operation of the digital device 100 to provide alock page indicator 70 that indicates a relative position of a lockeddisplay page according to an embodiment of the present invention.

According to the present embodiment, the digital device 100 can indicatethe relative position of the display page 50 b in a locked state in thesequence through the lock page indicator 70. For example, the digitaldevice 100 can provide the lock page indicator 70 to indicate that thedisplay page 50 b in the vicinity of the display page 50 a is lockedwhile the display page 50 a is displayed on the display unit 120. Thelock page indicator 70 can represent information about the position ofthe locked display page 50 b in the sequence on the basis of the displaypage 50 a currently displayed on the display unit 120. For example, whenthe locked display page 50 b is located on the right of the display page50 a, as shown in FIG. 10, the digital device 100 can display the lockpage indicator 70 corresponding to the display page 50 b at the rightside of the display unit 120.

If user A who is allowed to access the display page 50 b performs userinput 10 while the display page 50 a is displayed on the display unit120, the digital device 100 change the display page 50 a to the displaypage 50 b. However, when user B who is not allowed to access the displaypage 50 b performs the user input 12, the digital device 100 can skipchange to the display page 50 b and change the display page 50 a to thedisplay page 50 c. Here, the digital device 100 can display the lockpage indicator 70 corresponding to the display page 50 a at the leftside of the display unit 120 to indicate that the locked display page 50b is located on the left of the display page 50 c in the sequence. Thedigital device 100 can selectively provide the lock page indicator 70according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 shows sequence arrangement of the content 50 according to anembodiment of the present invention. As described above, the sequencearrangement of the content 50 includes at least one of one-dimensionalarrangement (FIG. 11( a)), two-dimensional arrangement (FIG. 11( b)) andthree-dimensional arrangement (FIG. 11( c)). If the content 50corresponds to a sequence in one-dimensional arrangement as shown inFIG. 11( a), display pages included in the content 50 other than thecurrent display page may exist before and/or after (or on the leftand/or right of) the current display page. Here, the digital device candetermine a one-dimensional page change direction (e.g., horizontaldirection or vertical direction) on the basis of a received user inputand change pages of the content 50 in the determined page changedirection.

When the content 50 corresponds to a sequence in two-dimensionalarrangement, as shown in FIG. 11( b), display pages included in thecontent 50 other than the current display page may exist in at least oneof directions corresponding to the top, bottom, left, right andcombinations thereof of the current display page. Here, the digitaldevice can determine a two-dimensional page change direction (e.g.,horizontal direction, vertical direction or a combination thereof) onthe basis of a received user input and change pages of the content 50 inthe determined page change direction.

When the content 50 corresponds to a sequence in three-dimensionalarrangement, as shown in FIG. 11( c), display pages included in thecontent 50 other than the current display page may exist in at least oneof directions corresponding to the front, back, top, bottom, left, rightand combinations thereof of the current display page. Here, the digitaldevice can determine a three-dimensional page change direction (e.g.,front-and-back direction, left-and-right direction, up-and-downdirection or a combination thereof) on the basis of a received userinput and change pages of the content 50 in the determined page changedirection. The aforementioned page change directions are arbitrarydirections for describing the sequence arrangement and page changedirection of the present invention and can be modified in various ways.

FIG. 12 illustrates various embodiments of the user input 10. The userinput 10 includes various inputs such as a sliding input (FIG. 12( a)),a touch input of a page change interface (FIG. 12( b)) and a gestureinput (FIG. 12( c)).

Referring to FIG. 12( a), the user input 10 may include a sliding inputapplied to the digital device 100. The digital device 100 can determinea display page change direction corresponding to the sliding input ofthe user. For example, the digital device 100 can reverse the slidingdirection of the sliding input and use the reversed sliding direction asthe display page change direction. That is, when the user input 10 ofsliding to the left is received as shown in FIG. 12( a), the digitaldevice 100 can change the current display page to the display pagelocated on the right of the current display page. Otherwise, the digitaldevice 100 can change the current display page to the next display pagein response to an upward sliding input and change the current displaypage to a previous display page in response to a downward sliding input.If the content of the digital device 100 has two-dimensional orthree-dimensional sequence arrangement, the sliding direction of theuser input may be subdivided and respectively correspond to sequencearrangement change directions.

Referring to FIG. 12( b), the user input 10 may include a touch input ofthe page change interface provided to the digital device 100. The pagechange interface may be a user interface provided to the display unit120 or a keypad for direction change of the digital device 100. Thedigital device 100 can perform display page change on the basis of apredetermined direction of the page change interface, touched by theuser.

Referring to FIG. 12( c), the user input 10 may include a gesture inputapplied to the digital device 100. In this case, the digital device 100may include an additional sensor for detecting the gesture input. A pagechange method performed by the digital device 100 according to thegesture input corresponds to the page change method described in FIG.12( a).

According to the embodiments of the present invention, the digitaldevice 100 can extract fingerprint information of a user from the userinput 10 in various forms. If the user input 10 is a direct touch inputapplied to the digital device 100, as shown in FIG. 12( a) or FIG. 12(b), the digital device 100 can extract fingerprint information from theuser input 10 using a fingerprint sensor provided with a touch sensor tothe display device 100. If the user input 10 is not a direct touchapplied to the digital device 100, the digital device 100 can extractfingerprint information of a user finger performing the user input 10through noncontact fingerprint recognition. For example, the digitaldevice 100 can detect the image of the user finger performing the userinput 10 and analyze the image to extract fingerprint information of auser. Alternatively, the digital device 100 can detect protrusions anddepressions of the surface of the user finger performing the user input10 using an optical sensor and acquire fingerprint information of theuser using the detected protrusions and depressions on the surface ofthe user finger.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a method for controlling contentaccording to another embodiment of the present invention. Detaileddescription of part of the embodiment of FIG. 13, which is identical tothe corresponding part of the embodiment of FIG. 2, is omitted.

In the embodiment of FIG. 13, a second display page that will beexchanged with a first display page according to a user input includes alocked region. That is, at least part of the second display page islocked, which is permitted to be accessed only by a specific user. Thelocked region can be provided to the display unit only once a user isauthenticated.

Accordingly, the digital device determines whether the second displaypage that will be exchanged with the first display page includes alocked region in response to a user input (S1330). If the second displaypage includes the locked region, the digital device extracts fingerprintinformation of a corresponding user from the received user input(S1340). The fingerprint information of the user can be acquired at thesame time as the user input and the digital device can extract thefingerprint information of the user from the user input and perform userauthentication.

Subsequently, the digital device determines whether the locked region ispermitted to be accessed on the basis of the extracted fingerprintinformation (S1350). If the digital device determines that the lockedregion is permitted to be accessed, the digital device provides thesecond display page including the locked region to the display unit(S1360). The digital device can unlock the locked region temporarily orpermanently and provide the unlocked region to the display unit.

However, if the digital device determines that the locked region is notpermitted to be accessed, the digital device provides the second displaypage other than the locked region to the display unit (S1362). Thedigital device may process the corresponding region of the seconddisplay page as a blind region or display the part of the second displaypage other than the locked region such that the locked region is notdisplayed.

According to the embodiment of FIG. 13, when part of a display page islocked, the digital device can determine whether to display the lockedpart on the basis of the fingerprint information of the user whoperforms user input. According to the embodiments of the presentinvention, display page change may include an operation of turning overdisplay pages. Here, the digital device can change a plurality ofdisplay pages page by page. According to an embodiment of the presentinvention, display page change may include an operation of scrollingthrough content. Here, the digital device can scroll through a pluralityof display pages displayed on the display unit horizontally orvertically.

FIG. 14 illustrates a method by which the digital device 100 changesdisplay pages according to the embodiment of FIG. 13. In FIG. 14, aplurality of display pages includes a plurality pages 58 a, 58 b and 58c of a digital document that form content 58 in a sequence. The pages 58a and 58 c correspond to public content allowed to be accessed by allusers, whereas the page 58 b is private content permitted to be accessedonly by user A. Detailed description of part of the embodiment of FIG.14, which is identical to the corresponding part of the embodiment ofFIG. 6, is omitted.

In FIG. 14, the digital device 100 can receive user input 10 of user Aor user input 12 of user B, which corresponds to sliding upward, whilethe page 58 a is displayed on the display unit 120. The digital device100 changes the page 58 a of the content 58, currently displayed on thedisplay unit, to the next page 58 b in the sequence in response to theuser input 10 or 12. Here, the page 58 b includes a locked part 80.

The digital device 100 extracts fingerprint information of a user fromthe user input 10 or 12 and determines whether the user is allowed toaccess the locked part 80 on the basis of the extracted fingerprintinformation. If user A who is allowed to access the locked part 80performs the user input 10, the digital device 100 provides the page 58b including the locked part 80 to the display unit 120. If user B who isnot permitted to access the locked part 80 performs the user input 12,the digital device 100 provides the remaining part of the page 58 bother than the locked part 80 to the display unit 120. The digitaldevice 100 can process the locked part 80 of the page 58 b as a blindpart in order not to display the locked part, as shown in FIG. 14.Otherwise, the digital device 100 can display only the remaining part ofthe page 58 b other than the locked part 80.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating a method for controlling contentaccording to another embodiment of the present invention. Each step ofthe method shown in FIG. 15 may be performed by the digital deviceaccording to the present invention. That is, the processor 110 of thedigital device 100 can control each step of FIG. 15 on the basis ofcontrol commands of the content control module 200 of the digital device100 shown in FIG. 1.

First of all, the digital device according to the present invention maydisplay a current display page included in the content on a display unitof the device (S1510). Herein, the content may include a plurality ofdisplay pages in a sequence. For example, the plurality of display pagesmay include at least one of a plurality of pictures, a plurality of homescreens, and a plurality of pages of a digital document.

Next, the digital device according to the present invention may receivea user input to or above a display screen of the display unit forchanging from the current display page to another page of the content(S1520). For example, the user input may include a sliding touch inputto or above the current display pate. Also, for example, the user inputmay include a touch-and-hold input to or above the current display page.Also, as described in FIG. 2, the user input can include various userinputs, such as gesture input, complex touch gesture input, etc.

Next, the digital device according to the present invention may extractfingerprint information from the user input (S1530). For example, thedigital device may extract the fingerprint information at every userinput for changing the pages. Also, for example, the digital device mayextract the fingerprint information from a touch only when a followingpage includes locked content.

Next, the digital device according to the present invention maydetermine whether the content of the another page is or is notaccessible based on the extracted fingerprint information (S1540). Forexample, the digital device may display an icon in place of any contentdetermined not to be accessible based on the extracted fingerprintinformation. Herein, the icon may indicate that the content is notaccessible. If all of the content of the another page is determined tobe accessible based on the extracted fingerprint information in stepS1540, the digital device may display the another page on the displayunit (S1550). In an embodiment, the digital device may display a turningof the current page to the another page. In another embodiment, thedigital device may display a sliding of the current page to reveal theanother page. In another embodiment, the digital device may display aflash removal of the current page to reveal the another page. In anotherembodiment, the digital device may scroll from the current page to theanother page.

However, if any of the content of the another page is determined to beaccessible based on the extracted fingerprint information in step S1540,the digital device may display on the display unit a page following thecurrent page without displaying content of the another page that wasdetermined not to be accessible (S1552). For example, the page followingthe current page may include a page of the sequence following theanother page. Also, for example, the page following the current page mayinclude the another page with the content that was determined not to beaccessible replaced with an icon, image or other data indicating thatthe content is not accessible. Also, for example, the page following thecurrent page may include the another page without displaying anyindication of the existence of the content that was determined not to beaccessible.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, if any of thecontent of the another page is determined not to be accessible based onthe extracted fingerprint information, and if the current page is anext-to-last page corresponding to a change direction of the user input,the digital device may not change the display from the current page.According to another embodiment of the present invention, the digitaldevice may provide a fingerprint authentication user interface forreceiving a second fingerprint input for unlocking any of the content ofthe another page that is determined not to be accessible based on theextracted fingerprint information.

Meanwhile, according to an embodiment of the present invention, if anyof the content of the another page is determined not to be accessiblebased on the extracted fingerprint information, prior to displaying thepate following the current page without displaying content of theanother page that was determined not to be accessible, following stepscan be performed. First of all, the digital device may provide afingerprint authentication user interface for receiving a second userinput. Next, the digital device may extract second fingerprintinformation from the second fingerprint information. Next, the digitaldevice may determine whether the content of the another page is or isnot accessible based on the extracted second fingerprint information. Ifall of the content of the another page is determined to be accessiblebased on the extracted second fingerprint information, the digitaldevice may display the another page on the display unit. However, if anyof the content of the another page is determined not to be accessiblebased on the extracted second fingerprint information, the digitaldevice may display on the display unit the page following the currentpage without displaying content of the another page that was determinednot to be accessible.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, if any of thecontent of the another page is determined not to be accessible based onthe extracted fingerprint information, prior to displaying the patefollowing the current page without displaying content of the anotherpage that was determined not to be accessible, following steps can beperformed. First of all, the digital device may provide anauthentication user interface for receiving a second user input. Next,the digital device may determine whether the content of the another pageis or is not accessible based on the second user input. If all of thecontent of the another page is determined to be accessible based on thesecond user input, the digital device may display the another page onthe display unit. However, if any of the content of the another page isdetermined not to be accessible based on the second user input, thedigital device display on the display unit the page following thecurrent page without displaying content of the another page that wasdetermined not to be accessible.

The fingerprint authentication methods discussed above may be augmentedto account for errors in fingerprint extraction or other issues. Forexample, if a first fingerprint is not determined to match an accesslevel, the digital device may provide a user interface to obtain asecond fingerprint. Also, if a first fingerprint is not determined tomatch an access level, the digital device may provide a user interfaceto obtain another form of authentication input, such as a typed orspoken password, or another type of authentication input. Also, even ifa first fingerprint is determined to match an access level, the digitaldevice may provide a user interface to obtain a second form ofauthentication input, such as a typed or spoken password, or anothertype of authentication input. Also, the system may be programmed withthe ability to set fingerprint-based passwords for selected pages, orselected contents of individual pages, so that a user may be able tostore, publish or share a document, while restricting access to portionsof the document based on a pre-set password.

Also, the previous discussion of fingerprint traversal of pages is notlimited to 1 dimensional/linear page traversal. For example, the use ofthe previously described fingerprint security may be applied to pagesarranged in a 2 two dimensional page layout. Similarly, the use of thepreviously described fingerprint security is not limited to swipingpages, but may also be applied to touch-based selections of hot linksembedded in a table of contents or any other manner of traversingthrough a document that contains text, images, hot links and otherdocument forms.

Furthermore, the previous discussion of fingerprint based documenttraversal applies to all manner of documents, including spreadsheets,and photo albums, slide presentations. That is, in each of theseexamples, pages or portions of pages (e.g., spreadsheet columns, rows orcells) may be protected via one or more fingerprints.

In the embodiments of the present invention, the digital device includesa display unit such as a TV receiver, a computer, a notebook computer, acellular phone, a portable device or the like, and various types ofdevices capable of outputting content to the display unit.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that claims that are notexplicitly cited in each other in the appended claims may be presentedin combination as an exemplary embodiment of the present invention orincluded as a new claim by a subsequent amendment after the applicationis filed.

Various embodiments have been described in the best mode for carryingout the invention.

As described above, the present invention is totally or partiallyapplicable to electronic devices.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for controlling content by a device, thecontent including a plurality of display pages in a sequence, the methodcomprising: displaying a current display page included in the content ona display unit of the device; receiving a user input to or above adisplay screen of the display unit for changing from the current displaypage to another page of the content; extracting, by the device,fingerprint information from the user input; determining, by the device,whether the content of the another page is or is not accessible based onthe extracted fingerprint information; if all of the content of theanother page is determined to be accessible based on the extractedfingerprint information, displaying the another page on the displayunit; and if any of the content of the another page is determined not tobe accessible based on the extracted fingerprint information, displayingon the display unit a page following the current page without displayingcontent of the another page that was determined not to be accessible. 2.The method according to claim 1, wherein the displaying the pagefollowing the current page without displaying content of the anotherpage that was determined not to be accessible comprises: displaying apage of the sequence following the another page.
 3. The method accordingto claim 1, wherein the displaying the page following the current pagewithout displaying content of the another page that was determined notto be accessible comprises: displaying the another page with the contentthat was determined not to be accessible replaced with an icon, image orother data indicating that the content is not accessible.
 4. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the displaying the page following thecurrent page without displaying content of the another page that wasdetermined not to be accessible comprises: displaying the another pagewithout displaying any indication of the existence of the content thatwas determined not to be accessible.
 5. The method according to claim 1,further comprising: not changing the display from the current page ifany of the content of the another page is determined not to beaccessible based on the extracted fingerprint information, and if thecurrent page is a next-to-last page corresponding to a change directionof the user input.
 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the stepof extracting comprises one of extracting the fingerprint information atevery user input for changing the pages; and extracting the fingerprintinformation from a touch only when a following page includes lockedcontent.
 7. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:providing a fingerprint authentication user interface for receiving asecond fingerprint input for unlocking any of the content of the anotherpage that is determined not to be accessible based on the extractedfingerprint information.
 8. The method accordingly to claim 1, furthercomprising: if any of the content of the another page is determined notto be accessible based on the extracted fingerprint information, priorto displaying the page following the current page without displayingcontent of the another page that was determined not to be accessible:providing a fingerprint authentication user interface for receiving asecond user input; extracting second fingerprint information from thesecond user input; determining whether the content of the another pageis or is not accessible based on the extracted second fingerprintinformation; if all of the content of the another page is determined tobe accessible based on the extracted second fingerprint information,displaying the another page on the display unit; and if any of thecontent of the another page is determined not to be accessible based onthe extracted second fingerprint information, displaying on the displayunit the page following the current page without displaying content ofthe another page that was determined not to be accessible.
 9. The methodaccordingly to claim 1, further comprising: if any of the content of theanother page is determined not to be accessible based on the extractedfingerprint information, prior to displaying the page following thecurrent page without displaying content of the another page that wasdetermined not to be accessible: providing an authentication userinterface for receiving a second user input; determining, by the device,whether the content of the another page is or is not accessible based onthe second user input; if all of the content of the another page isdetermined to be accessible based on the second user input, displayingthe another page on the display unit; and if any of the content of theanother page is determined not to be accessible based on the second userinput, displaying on the display unit the page following the currentpage without displaying content of the another page that was determinednot to be accessible.
 10. The method according to claim 1, furthercomprising: displaying an icon in place of any content determined not tobe accessible based on the extracted fingerprint information, the iconindicating that the content is not accessible.
 11. The method accordingto claim 1, wherein the user input comprises one of a sliding touchinput to or above the current display page; and a touch-and-hold inputto or above the current display page.
 12. The method according to claim1, wherein the displaying the another page comprises one of displaying aturning of the current page to the another page; displaying a sliding ofthe current page to reveal the another page; displaying a flash removalof the current page to reveal the another page; and scrolling from thecurrent page to the another page.
 13. The method according to claim 1,wherein the plurality of display pages includes at least one of aplurality of pictures, a plurality of home screens, and a plurality ofpages of a digital document.
 14. A digital device, comprising: aprocessor configured to control operations of the digital device; adisplay unit having a display screen configured to display an image inresponse to a command of the processor; and a sensor unit configured tosense a user input applied to or above the digital device and transmit acorresponding sensed result to the processor, wherein the processor isfurther configured to: display a current display page on the displayscreen, receive a user input to or above the display screen for changingfrom the current display page to another page of the content, extractfingerprint information from the user input, determine whether thecontent of the another page is or is not accessible based on theextracted fingerprint information, if all of the content of the anotherpage is determined to be accessible based on the extracted fingerprintinformation, display the another page on the display unit, and if any ofthe content of the another page is determined not to be accessible basedon the extracted fingerprint information, display on the display unit apage following the current page without displaying content of theanother page that was determined not to be accessible.
 15. The digitaldevice according to claim 14, wherein the page following the currentpage that is displayed without displaying content of the another pagethat was determined not to be accessible comprises a page of thesequence following the another page.
 16. The digital device according toclaim 14, wherein the page following the current page that is displayedwithout displaying content of the another page that was determined notto be accessible comprises the another page with the content that wasdetermined not to be accessible replaced with an icon, image or otherdata indicating that the content is not accessible.
 17. The digitaldevice according to claim 14, wherein the page following the currentpage that is displayed without displaying content of the another pagethat was determined not to be accessible comprises the another pagewithout any indication of the existence of the content that wasdetermined not to be accessible.
 18. The digital device according toclaim 14, wherein the processor is configured to not change the displayfrom the current page if any of the content of the another page isdetermined not to be accessible based on the extracted fingerprintinformation, and if the current page is a next-to-last pagecorresponding to a change direction of the user input.
 19. The digitaldevice according to claim 14, wherein the processor is configured toextract the fingerprint information at every user input for changing thepages; or extract the fingerprint information only when a following pageincludes locked content.
 20. The digital device according to claim 14,wherein the processor is configured to provide a fingerprintauthentication user interface for receiving a second fingerprint inputfor unlocking any of the content of the another page that is determinednot to be accessible based on the extracted fingerprint information. 21.The digital device accordingly to claim 14, wherein, if any of thecontent of the another page is determined not to be accessible based onthe extracted fingerprint information, prior to displaying the pagefollowing the current page without displaying content of the anotherpage that was determined not to be accessible, the processor isconfigured to provide a fingerprint authentication user interface forreceiving a second user input, extract second fingerprint informationfrom the second user input, determine whether the content of the anotherpage is or is not accessible based on the extracted second fingerprintinformation, if all of the content of the another page is determined tobe accessible based on the extracted second fingerprint information,display the another page on the display unit, and if any of the contentof the another page is determined not to be accessible based on theextracted second fingerprint information, display on the display unitthe page following the current page without displaying content of theanother page that was determined not to be accessible.
 22. The digitaldevice accordingly to claim 14, wherein, if any of the content of theanother page is determined not to be accessible based on the extractedfingerprint information, prior to displaying the page following thecurrent page without displaying content of the another page that wasdetermined not to be accessible, the processor is configured to: providean authentication user interface for receiving a second user input,determine whether the content of the another page is or is notaccessible based on the second user input, if all of the content of theanother page is determined to be accessible based on the second userinput, display the another page on the display unit, and if any of thecontent of the another page is determined not to be accessible based onthe second user input, display on the display unit the page followingthe current page without displaying content of the another page that wasdetermined not to be accessible.
 23. The digital device according toclaim 14, wherein the processor is configured to display an icon inplace of any content determined not to be accessible based on theextracted fingerprint information, the icon indicating that the contentis not accessible.
 24. The digital device according to claim 14, whereinthe user input comprises one of a sliding touch input to or above thecurrent display page; and a touch-and-hold input to or above the currentdisplay page.
 25. The digital device according to claim 14, wherein theprocessor is configured to display the another page via one ofdisplaying a turning of the current page to the another page, displayinga sliding of the current page to reveal the another page, displaying aflash removal of the current page to reveal the another page, andscrolling from the current page to the another page.
 26. The digitaldevice according to claim 14, wherein the plurality of display pagesincludes at least one of a plurality of pictures, a plurality of homescreens, and a plurality of pages of a digital document.